Scarlet Ribbons - Carolyn Hester

 

Scarlet Ribbons

Carolyn Hester

Coral Records  CRL 57143

1958

This was Carolyn Hester's debut album.  Although it contains no production info, I've read that it was recorded by Norman Petty in his studio in Clovis, New Mexico and I think I recall seeing a copy of the album in the Petty museum in Clovis from my visit there several years ago.  I'm a big fan of Hester and I wanted this album for many years but it took me awhile to find a copy in collectible condition at a price I was happy with.  As is so often the case when I wait a long time to get a record, I built up a bunch of high expectations about it, so when I finally heard it I was disappointed that it was not what I was expecting.  It sounded languid and genteel to me with none of the energy, earthiness and emotional impact of her 1960s folk albums which are among my favorite of the genre.  I've come to appreciate its loveliness but it is not the album I usually reach for when I want to hear Hester.  It features arguably the least interesting set of songs on any Hester album I have heard with a heavy dose of commercial folk standards.  The album opens with the title track which is much more of a pop standard than a folk song.  It was written by Evelyn Danzig and Jack Segal in 1949.  Jo Stafford had a pop hit with it and then Harry Belafonte had a hit with a commercial folk interpretation which I assume was the inspiration for Hester's version.  I don't like the song much but Hester sings it beautifully.  "I Know Where I'm Going" is an old folk ballad of Scotch or Irish origin.  It is a love song expressing desire which Hester conveys effectively with her tender impassioned vocal which sounds surprising mature considering that she was only about 20 when she recorded it.  The album gets a welcome infusion of humor and liveliness with "The Texan Boys" which is a folk song collected by John Lomax.  It is also commonly listed as "The Texian Boys."  It describes the crude courting practices of the amorous lads of Texas and Hester delivers it with winning verve.  "Danny Boy" is the venerable Irish classic which we've all heard a gazillion times.  Hester certainly has the pipes to put the song over, but I find her version deficient in emotion.  "Ye Banks and Braes" is the 18th century song by Robert Burns also commonly known as "The Banks O'Doon" which is a lament about a false lover.  Hester's vocal is very pretty but again I find it lacking in feeling.  My favorite track on the album is "The Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven" which is the country classic that has been covered by many artists.  I know it best from the Johnny Cash version which is my favorite although I also really like the Seekers' version as well.  It is a highly propulsive song with compelling lyrics.  I don't think Hester brings anything new to the song, but she sounds very engaged and I think it is one of the few songs on the album that resembles her work in the 1960s.  George Attwood's bass lines give the song some extra oomph.  Side two gets off to a rough start as Hester tackles "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" which is a traditional song that John Jacob Niles wrote a new tune for.  I first heard the song on "Joan Baez in Concert Part 1" where I didn't like it.  I have to admit I don't like Hester's version either.  I find it dull and lifeless.  The only version I like much is Nina Simone's performance of it. "The Riddle Song" is another much-covered folk song that I have little use for.  We called "I Gave My Love a Cherry" when we sang it in elementary school.  As you undoubtedly already know it consists of a bunch of odd riddles and their answers.  Hester sings it glacially slow which does let her shine as a vocalist, but aside from that I find the performance tedious and lethargic.  This is my least favorite track on the album.  The album comes back to life with the much faster paced "Lolly Too Dum" which is a silly folk song popularized by Burl Ives.  The song is too repetitious for my taste but I still find Hester's vocal spritely and appealing.  "Little Willie" is another childish folk song about courtship.  The song is a bit too cute for me, but I appreciate the lightness and humor it brings to the album.  "Hush-A-Bye" is a charming lullaby that is not the famous song of the same title that is also known as "All the Pretty Horses."  I've never heard this song before and like it better than its more famous counterpart.  The album concludes on a down note with "I Wonder as I Wander" which is a folk style hymn written by John Jacob Niles.  I generally have little use for folk hymns and this is no exception but Hester does deliver a powerful vocal that holds my interest even when the words do not.  Hester's debut shows a lot of promise.  She demonstrates her compelling vocal strength and prowess but the material is often either pedestrian or overly familiar and she sometimes struggles to invest it with sufficient feeling.  Her work in the 1960s was a lot more confident and much less stilted and genteel.  For that reason I'm a bit hesitant to recommend this album.  On the other hand Hester is one of my favorite singers and I'm happy to listen to anything she chooses to sing.  My only regret about buying it is that I waited so long to do it.  So if you are a Hester fan or a commercial folk music fan it is worth seeking out.  Recommended to fans of early Joan Baez.

Joan Baez in San Francisco - Joan Baez

Joan Baez in San Francisco
Joan Baez
Fantasy Records  5015
1964 

It is amusing to me that one of my favorite Joan Baez albums is the one she sued to prevent from being released.  In her lawsuit against Fantasy Records the album is described as a "poor quality and tasteless record" that damaged her reputation.  I beg to differ.  I don't blame her for being mad, the record is obviously a rip-off and a shameless bit of record company chicanery.  Despite that, the album is often quite enjoyable.  It was recorded in 1958 when Baez was 17.  I mistakenly believed it was a live album when I bought it, but it was actually a demo recorded in a studio.  It features an eclectic bunch of songs, more diverse than most of her Vanguard albums.  My favorites are the two rock and roll songs on the record, covers of the Coasters' "Young Blood" and the Midnighters' "Annie Had a Baby."  Throughout her career I've never found Baez's sporadic efforts to sing rock to be convincing, she just sounds too uptight and stilted.  Perhaps because of her youth, she sounds more relaxed, even happy on these cuts.  I've always found her to be humorless to a fault, but these two songs are funny and she plays up their humor.  "Annie Had a Baby" is the better of the two.  Baez sings in a low voice and a southern accent and distorts the words like a rockabilly singer.  Of course it is ridiculous but I still love it and I'm sorry it is so short.  She sings "Young Blood" in her normal voice although she lowers her voice for the lines sung by the back-up singers in the Coasters' version.  She whoops and hollers her way through the song and I adore her for it.  I've heard a bunch of her albums and there is nothing like this on any of them.  Unfortunately the rest of the album is not nearly as fun.  Her version of "La Bamba" comes close.  It is energetic but her Spanish sounds exaggerated, like she is showing off in Spanish class.  Baez was a big fan of Harry Belafonte as a teenager and she does three of his songs which are among the best tracks on the record.  My favorite is her cover of "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" which she sings in a silly Caribbean accent that I find utterly charming.  She tones down the accent for "Island in the Sun" which is pleasant and light.  On "Scarlet Ribbons" she sings in her normal voice which is of course lovely.  She also covers Merle Travis' country classic "Dark as a Dungeon" which I like as well.  She sings it beautifully as you'd expect, but she also sounds loose, responding to the song rather than forcing her will upon it.  The rest of the album sounds more like her early Vanguard albums, traditional folk songs and spirituals delivered with that perfect soprano voice.  My favorite of the bunch is her take on the old work song "Told My Captain" which is restrained and moody.  "Every Night" is generally known as "Every Night When The Sun Goes In."  I like the song but her vocal lacks sufficient feeling to put it over.  "Water Boy" is another work song often associated with Odetta who was a big influence on Baez as a teen.  Again I find the song lacking in feeling.  "Oh Freedom" was also a song Odetta performed and it is the one song from this album that Baez kept in her repertoire.  It is a very stirring song, but she performed it much better later in her career.  The old English folk song "I Gave My Love a Cherry" would easily fit on her first album.  She sings it flawlessly as if she were singing a hymn and I find the song lifeless and dull.  My least favorite cut.  Nonetheless this is a remarkable record for a 17 year old.  Baez's magnificent voice was already fully developed and she unleashed it freely with impressive force.  Her lack of maturity is most evident in her inconsistent ability to bring out the depth and feeling in the songs.  Too often she sounds like she is imitating someone's record without connecting to the words.  It is hardly embarrassing though, I wish some of the youthful exuberance and sense of fun displayed on this recording had carried over to her mature career. Recommended to fans of Carolyn Hester.